Milbridge couple charged in heroin trafficking

March 20, 2009 1:42 pm

Contributed | BDN

Contributed | BDN

Contributed | BDN

Contributed | BDN

AUGUSTA —The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency said Friday $30,000 worth of heroin bound for Hancock and Washington County, was seized this week from inside the air cleaner of a car and a Milbridge couple is under arrest. Drug agents say a second man is being sought and additional arrests are also likely, according to a press release from the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Charged with aggravated trafficking of heroin is 47 year old Stuart Ray and his 43 year old wife, Michelle Ray. Both were arrested at their High Street home in Milbridge on Wednesday and have now been released on bail from the Washington County Jail. Agents said an arrest warrant has also been issued for 48 year old Michael Thibeau of Harrington for the same charge.

MDEA Supervisor Michael Crabtree said the trio has been under investigation for the past two months suspected of importing large amounts of heroin into Maine from Connecticut. Acting on a tip, agents along with State Police and the Hancock Sheriff’s Department stopped the car Thibeau was driving on Tuesday along Route 1. The officers, aided by a State Police dog, found 850 bags of heroin hidden inside the car’s air cleaner.

The car was registered to Michelle Ray. Thibeau was released as the investigation continued. On Wednesday, armed with a search warrant, Milbridge Police and the Washington Sheriff’s deputies, assisted agents with searching the Ray’s home, where an additional 10 bags of heroin were located. An arrest warrant for Thibeau was then issued.

Agents said the heroin found in the 1999 Subaru was bundled together in 50 bag increments and found in the air cleaner after a State Police dog was used to help search the car. Agents say the heroin had been picked up earlier in Connecticut and driven to Maine by Thibeau, who was then going to deliver the drugs to the Rays. Agents said the heroin was going to be sold in Hancock and Washington counties and that the trio is suspected of bringing back to Maine other large amounts of heroin in the past two months from Connecticut.